Opportunity: Announcement for 2019-2020 NOSB Question Writers

Are you a science teacher or a marine scientist with a strong interest in education? Are you interested in earning some money by working from home this summer?

The National Ocean Sciences Bowl® (NOSB) is looking to hire question writers during the summer of 2019 to write ocean and freshwater science questions for our 2020 competitions.

The NOSB (www.nosb.org) is an academic competition and program that addresses a national gap in environmental and earth sciences in public education by introducing high school students to and engaging them in ocean science, preparing them for ocean science‐related and other STEM careers, and helping them become knowledgeable citizens and environmental stewards. The program is in its 23rd year of exciting students about the ocean and inspiring them to pursue careers in a STEM field. We need your help to continue our strong impact.

We are looking for individuals with a strong collective knowledge of the ocean sciences – varying expertise in biology, chemistry, physics, geology, geography, technology, social science and marine policy ‐ to write buzzer questions and Team Challenge Questions (TCQs) for the 2020 NOSB competitions. This year questions will largely focus on interconnecting human, environmental, and energy systems with an emphasis on the Gulf of Mexico. We encourage scientists and educators with related scientific background to apply.

The high school participants are tested at the college undergraduate level. Question writers will be asked to write questions that would be considered moderate or difficult for this level of student. Sample NOSB questions can be found at: http://nosb.org/learn/sample‐questions/.

Qualifications/Eligibility

Degree (preferably masters or higher) in one of the sciences

Experience teaching (preferably high school or under grad students)

Comfort using databases and social network sites

Possession of a personal computer and access to the Internet

Ability to write and enter all 150 required questions in the database by August 31, 2019

Ability to submit 6 TCQs by email by August 31, 2019

Ability to work independently and collaboratively with a team

Must NOT be a current NOSB coach in 2019 (or plan to be in 2020) or have a direct connection with current NOSB participants

Willingness to sign a confidentiality agreement

High interest in staying up to speed on current ocean science research and issues

Each Question Writer can earn up to a $1,000 stipend. Each question writer will receive a $500 good faith payment for submitting all required questions by the deadline (150 buzzers & 6 TCQs). Each question writer can receive up to an additional $500 compensation, to be paid by January 2020, for the percentage of their submitted questions (both buzzers and TCQs) that are accepted by the NOSB Technical Advisory Panels.